CSBG Archive

Cronin Theory of Comics – Comic Reviews

As you all may know, the way that I see the blog working, when it comes to reviews, is that we tell you all what comic books we think are good or, in the alternative, tell you why books that were NOT good were not good At the heart of that, then, is the only “rule” I’ve ever given the folks who I ask to contribute here – “Don’t recommend a book that you do not think is good.” That might seem to be a no-brainer, but far too often, elsewhere, I have seen people write reviews like, “Yeah, this comic isn’t really that good, but I still like it, so I’ll give it a B.” I think stuff like that is counter-productive.

I have no problem with people liking books that they don’t think are good, heck, I like plenty of books that I wouldn’t classify as “good.” They just happen to appeal to me. At the same time, I would hope that those same people wouldn’t recommend the comics to OTHER people. That’s how I like to look at it – “Recommended,” to me, means that I am willing to say, “Yeah, I think there is a darn good chance that most people will (or, to be more egotistical, should) enjoy this book.” That’s all.

Therefore, when I DON’T recommend a book, it does not mean that I think the book is bad. If I think the book is bad, I’ll make sure to say I think the book is bad (heck, for the really bad, Nightwing #118-119/Battle for Bludhaven level books, I have a special “Recommended That You DON’T Read” category). In most cases, though, I’ll mention a certain audience who I think probably would enjoy the book, but I won’t give it an overall recommendation. So, while most books will end up as “not recommended,” that does not mean that most comics are terrible, or anything like that. I just think we should make it a point just to make sure people know which comics are GOOD.